These are the best fisheye lenses for portrait photography when you want bold, stylized perspective—faces close, environments wrapping around, limbs elongated with intention, and dramatic sunstars—with strong flare control, close minimum focus, and compact builds for street/editorial, band promos, fashion character work, and creative couples— and here’s what to look for as you buy: prefer diagonal fisheyes on full-frame for edge-to-edge frames you can partially de-fish (keeps heads flattering while preserving energy), circular options for graphic hero plates, fast or near-hyperfocal focus you can tape, coatings that tame point lights and shiny fabrics, and lightweight barrels for gimbals/handheld; skip CPLs (uneven skies/skin), plan to shade the front element, and keep a repeatable de-fish preset so lines stay intentional across a set. Full-frame heroes: Canon EF 8–15mm ƒ4L Fisheye USM and Nikon AF-S 8–15mm ƒ3.5–4.5E (benchmark circular→diagonal zooms—set a custom stop at ~14–15 mm for flattering diagonal coverage; excellent flare control and quick AF), Samyang/Rokinon 12mm ƒ2.8 diagonal (fast, featherweight, budget-friendly for moody available light), Sigma 15mm ƒ2.8 EX diagonal (compact classic that tightens corners around ƒ5.6), and legacy Nikon 16mm ƒ2.8 (ultralight used gem). APS-C standouts for small rooms and low-profile rigs: Tokina AT-X 10–17mm ƒ3.5–4.5 DX and Pentax DA 10–17mm ƒ3.5–4.5 (close-focus champs—great for CFWA portraits with strong foregrounds), plus the Canon/Nikon 8–15s acting as diagonal fisheyes across much of their range on crop if you already own one. Micro Four Thirds winners for handheld video and walk-and-talks: Olympus M.Zuiko 8mm ƒ1.8 PRO (fast, sealed, excellent into-the-spotlight behavior) and Panasonic Lumix G 8mm ƒ3.5 (tiny, sharp, value). Practical buyer tips: for maximum flexibility on FF, grab an 8–15 and store two zoom stops—(a) circular for graphic album/poster frames and (b) diagonal “no-vignette” for people; if speed/price matter, the Samyang 12/2.8 is a low-light steal; on crop, the Tokina 10–17 is size-to-coverage gold; on MFT, the Oly 8/1.8 rules dim interiors; pick rigid EF→RF/E/Z adapters with zero play, practice partial de-fish by a fixed amount so your series looks cohesive, and consider a slim protector only when debris is likely (remove if it ghosts). Fisheye portrait-shooting tips: guide poses—keep faces near frame center (least distortion), use diagonals for limbs you want elongated and keep sensitive features away from extreme corners; work ~ƒ4–ƒ8 for nicer edges (ƒ2.8 for glow/mood), expose for skin and let neon/sky clip gracefully, and set shutter ~1/200–1/500 s for motion; place the lens 6–24 in from your subject for scale and humor, keep backgrounds 2–5 m behind for airy separation, and use negative fill to shape jawlines; for couples/groups, center the primary face and arc others around it, shoot slightly above eye level for flattering chins, and de-fish lightly to relax verticals while keeping energy; for fashion/editorial, get inches from accessories/shoes for CFWA punch, time backlights for rim, and shade the front element to kill veiling; for video, lock a 180° shutter, set a fixed zoom stop before the take, move slowly—tiny wobbles read big at 180°—and de-fish consistently in post; whether you’re crafting playful street portraits, stylized band art, edgy fashion sets, or graphic wedding moments, the best fisheye portrait choices—8–15 zooms on full-frame, Tokina/Pentax 10–17 on APS-C, and Olympus/Panasonic 8 mm on MFT—deliver close-focus drama, manageable flare, and post-friendly projection so faces stay intentional, lines feel graphic, and your images land bold and unmistakably character-driven.